Somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram combining virtual reality, a 1980s arcade, classic gaming consoles, and playing with your childhood toys is the new game from ILM called Star Wars: Beyond Victory. Set 22 years after the events of The Phantom Menace, this “mixed reality playset” lets you play as Volo, an up-and-coming podracer recruited by the notorious Sebulba to put him back on the map
What makes Beyond Victory unique, though, is that while large parts of the story unfold like the traditional VR games ILM has released, such as Vader Immortal and Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge, Beyond Victory is only partially that. The biggest component of the game is a third-person podracing game which you play top down in mixed reality and control with one of your VR handsets, almost as if it were a console game or a stand-up arcade machine. Think F-Zero, Rad Racer, Spy Hunter, or Mario Kart, but played on a table in front of you in virtual reality.
Io9 was invited to play a quick demo of the game at Star Wars Celebration Japan, and while we didn’t win our race, we did fall for the idea of blending the capabilities of your VR headset with the nostalgia of your childhood. That could mean racing video games, battling your buddies in a shopping mall arcade, or zooming Matchbox cars around on the living room rug. Beyond Victory somehow feels like all three simultaneously, but with the bonus of a full, brand-new Reign of the Empire era Star Wars story around it.
While the game is still in development, Jose Perez III, the game’s director, and Alyssa Finley, its executive producer, explained to io9 that the idea behind Beyond Victory was to blend all those things we know and love about nostalgia and gaming. “We’re calling this a ‘Playset’ because it isn’t just a game; it’s an entirely new way to experience the Star Wars galaxy and the worlds we create at ILM,” Finley said. “This new mixed reality experience blends the physical and digital worlds in a way that’s unlike anything we’ve done before and we’re so excited to share a special first look with our incredible Star Wars community.”
When it’s released, Beyond Victory will have three modes. There’s “Adventure” mode, which is the main story mode, telling Volo’s journey as he rises the ranks podracing for Sebulba. There’s “Arcade” mode, which is the top-down, podracing component. It’s part of “Adventure” mode but can be played alone too. Then there’s a mysterious “Playset” mode, which we did not get to demo, but is described as letting you “Transform the physical world around you and create your very own incredible Star Wars moments in mixed reality with a collection of unlockable virtual action figures and vehicles”
So, it feels like you’d go through “Adventure” mode to get the story, go back to “Arcade” mode to kick butt with the skills you gain through that, and then jump into “Playset” mode to just—make the game whatever you want. It really is at the center of a fun Venn diagram.
Star Wars: Beyond Victory – A Mixed Media Playset is currently in development for Meta Quest headsets. There is no release date.
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